Prep Athlete of the Week: Rams star's goals within reach

Wednesday

Oct 11, 2017 at 7:38 PMOct 11, 2017 at 7:38 PM

Nick Woodard Record Staff Writer @nwoodard25

STOCKTON — Hannah Ketcherside has a note saved in her phone that she looks at every day. Inside is an inspirational quote from Serena Williams, followed by a list of goals for her senior year of tennis. Among them are aspirations to go undefeated in league, win the Tri-City Athletic League title and compete in the section tournament.

So far, so good.

Ketcherside, a senior tennis player at Saint Mary’s High, has gone 7-0 in TCAL play and 12-3 overall with three matches left in the regular season. With Ketcherside as a captain, the Rams have an undefeated 13-0 regular season mark, as well as 7-0 in TCAL play.

Tennis is nothing new to Ketcherside, who adopted the sport at 5 years old and played in her first tournament when she was eight. She played other sports, Ketcherside said, but made a choice in middle school to focus on tennis.

“I like the individuality of it,” Ketcherside said. “It’s just you out there. If you’re down, you have to fight and come back.”

Ketcherside described herself as a baseline player with a strong serve, particularly her forehand. Her coach, Bob "Chino" Chiene, added that Ketcherside has a good pace to her game, and a consistency that wasn’t quite there a year ago.

“She’s gotten a lot steadier,” Chiene said. “She’s a lot more consistent this year than last.”

Chiene said Ketcherside’s turning point as a tennis player came in last year’s TCAL championship. She fell to a Tracy player in three sets, and Chiene said that loss helped her realize her true potential.

“That was the beginning of her realizing that she can do better,” Chiene said. “She’s really matured in her game since then. She’s a lot tougher, and she’s got a lot more of a calm demeanor.”

The last item on Ketcherside’s note reads “college?” with about four exclamation points following it. The senior has hopes of playing past high school, but she has to table that for now. Ketcherside said she worked harder than ever before over the past summer to get into this position. She doesn’t plan on squandering it now.

“It takes so many hours to get to this point,” Ketcherside said. “But when you have a goal and it’s within reach, it’s definitely worth it.”